Fridae

Over 50 LGBT activists and their allies held a rally on Saturday along Jalan Bundaran HI, in the city centre of Jakarta where the well-known Hotel Indonesia Roundabout is located.

The event was organised by the Indonesian LGBTIQ Forum, a coalition of groups which includes the Jakarta-based groups: Ardhanary Institute, Arus Pelangi, Institut Pelangi Perempuan, Q-munity, Forum Komunikasi Waria Indonesia, Yayasan Srikandi Sejati, GWL-Ina, Perempuan Mahardhika, Our Voice and Her Lounge.

In a statement issued in Indonesian in conjunction with International Day against Homophobia & Transphobia (IDAHO), the theme of the rally "Citizen in Diversity" seeks equality and protection of the country’s LGBT citizens. 

Organisers highlighted that although the country’s Post-Suharto Reformasi (reformation) movement of 1998 had opened the door for citizens to freely organise and express their political and social beliefs, LGBTs in Indonesia have not only not enjoyed the same freedoms but are subject to discrimination and violence.

Agustine Oke, director of Ardhanary Institute – a lesbian, bisexual, and transgender research and advocacy centre, told Fridae: “After the Surabaya ILGA conference incident, we struggled in silence for a year. But this year, we decided to become visible again, and publicly campaign for LGBTIQ rights in Indonesia.” 

The statement cited recent cases of violence carried out by Islamic extremist groups that forced the cancellation of the International Lesbian and Gay Association conference in Surabaya in January 2010 and raided a Q Film Festival event. On March 10 this year, Faisal Harahap aka Shakira, who was described in the Indonesian media as a transvestite and LGBT activist died after being shot by an unknown person in Taman Lawang, Central Jakarta. Two other transvestites were injured in the same case that was described in the media as “an armed robbery gone bad.” 

The Indonesian LGBTIQ Forum also called on the government to provide guarantees for freedom of association and movement just like any other citizen; accord LGBTs the same rights to education, health and work as any other citizen; eliminate all laws and local regulations that discriminate, directly or indirectly, against LGBTs; and complete all legal cases involving LGBTs that are unfairly related to informal work and prostitution laws.

IDAHO was first created in 2004 to commemorate the anniversary of the World Health Organisation removing homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses on 17 May 1990.